Chapter 12
Chapter 12
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 012
Chapter Title: Reverse Scale
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In front of the National Assembly building, the square once called the heart of Korean politics had transformed into a massive cauldron of greed.
What poured from the sky was a rain of disaster—and at the same time, seeds of avarice.
The cash had no owner, and the other valuables went to whoever grabbed them first in the chaos.
The voices that had preached unity just yesterday now turned into curses hurled at one another.
Justice and solidarity crumbled all too easily.
The man who had orchestrated this entire spectacle, Lee Jung-woo, gazed at the screen with satisfaction.
Instead of popcorn, he held a cola can, and standing beside him as always was his cynical advisor.
"What do you think, Belial? All neatly wrapped up, right?"
"A truly wondrous sight, my liege. The ugliness of mortals never fails to entertain—it's like an endless comedy."
Belial's empty eye sockets flickered with red glee.
His liege's methods always defied prediction, yet the results were invariably efficient.
More elegant than brute force—and far more cruel.
At that moment, the door to the inner room creaked open, and Lee Se-ah emerged, her face pale as a ghost.
She must have been watching from inside, for she pointed at the hellish scene on the screen, her voice trembling.
"Jung-woo... Did you make it like that?..."
Her voice carried a faint thread of hope.
Please say no.
Say it wasn't you.
But Jung-woo severed that hope with a single stroke.
"No, sis. Don't get the wrong idea."
He set down the cola can and spoke softly.
His voice was cold and firm.
"I didn't make them like that. I just stripped away the masks they were wearing. That's their true face—the essence of this world I have to rule."
"..."
Jung-woo's gaze returned to the screen.
The festival of madness was slowly drawing to a close.
Those who had claimed their share scattered like beasts, wary of one another, while the unlucky ones collapsed to the ground, weeping in despair.
Scattered across the square amid the trash were the shredded remnants of human dignity.
High above Seoul, higher even than Namsan Tower.
In the Black Forest Guild's penthouse, Seo Jun watched the entire scene unfold on the screen.
A glass of top-shelf cognac rested in his hand.
"Damn, that guy's moves are straight-up genius."
Seo Jun muttered under his breath.
His cold analysis had reached its conclusion long ago.
"Beat an SS-rank hero like a ragdoll to flex his power, then shower the sniveling refugees with their own loot just to toy with them. Picked one dumb YouTuber to drop bait for, turning the whole world's eyes on that idiot's mouth. This ain't just some muscle-headed psycho. He's a sly serpent who knows exactly how to play the board."
Seo Jun admired his own insight.
But he had no idea.
The 'serpent' he'd labeled acted purely on whims and instincts, without a second thought.
Seo Jun's goal had never been confrontation from the start.
Impossible with his own forces.
He'd debuted riding a bone dragon and smashed the Hwarang Guild—Korea's top powerhouse—like a toy.
To Seo Jun, that monster was a calamity that wouldn't flinch even if every S-rank awakener in the world piled on.
Calamities must be avoided—or ridden.
So how?
How to climb aboard that massive typhoon first, safest, and skim the biggest scraps?
He needed that guy's user manual.
What he liked, what he hated.
And most crucially, the reverse scale he must never touch.
It was a high-risk gamble.
He activated his most discreet intel channel at once.
Connecting to Crow, the head of Korea's largest underground info network, Shadow Network.
"It's me. Got a job for you."
"..."
"You know that psycho from Suwon, Lee Jung-woo? The KBC takeover guy."
"...Yes, I know of him."
"Dig up everything on his family and associates. Use only your cleanest shadows—no traces. This ain't a simple background check. Fuck up and get spotted, your shadows are funeral-bound. Got it?"
"Hmmm... Touch the wrong thing, and we'll all turn to ash. This'll cost a pretty penny in life insurance."
"I'll pay more than you ask. But leave even a hint of a tail on me, and you're dead."
Click.
Call ended.
Seo Jun glanced down at Yeouido once more.
Time to toss a pebble.
He just hoped the ripples wouldn't overwhelm him.
After that day, Lee Se-ah hardly left her room.
She ate her meals regularly but deliberately kept her distance from her brother.
Jung-woo didn't pester her either.
Three hundred years had taught him the weight of others' space and silence.
But his calm shattered with a single sentence from Se-ah as she stepped out.
"I... I need to go out."
Jung-woo's eyes shifted from the TV to her.
His brow twitched faintly.
"Go out for what? It's still chaos outside."
"To see Kim Yu-ri. She's been blowing up my phone, worried sick. Won't take no for an answer. I'll just show my face and come right back."
Kim Yu-ri.
Se-ah's one true best friend.
A name faintly etched in his memory.
Tough exterior, but deep loyalty— one of her few real friends, like an older sister.
He pondered briefly.
Letting sis out now would invite annoying variables.
But he couldn't keep her cooped up in this stuffy apartment forever.
Her mind would break first.
"Fine. I'll send an escort. Don't stay long."
With a gesture, a knight in jet-black armor materialized silently from the shadows.
A Death Knight.
Se-ah recoiled in horror.
"How am I supposed to go out with that!"
"Then?"
"Just me alone..."
"No."
Jung-woo refused flatly.
He hesitated, then dismissed the Death Knight and summoned another.
Along with a magic circle appeared a woman strikingly human-like.
Skin pale as porcelain, eyes redder than blood, long black hair like midnight.
From her elegant red dress emanated an alluring yet chilling aura.
Helena, Lee Jung-woo's chamberlain and Necrosia-born Vampire Lord.
"You called, Master?"
"Helena, guard my sister. Stay hidden in the shadows."
Helena was no mere vampire.
In Necrosia, she mastered not just blood magic but shadow and darkness itself—an anomaly.
Her power rivaled Earth's S-rank awakeners; her stealth and presence concealment unmatched.
Helena approached Se-ah and bowed gracefully.
Her smile was enchanting, yet subtly inhuman and eerie.
"A pleasure to meet you, Lady Se-ah. I've heard so much."
Se-ah nodded reluctantly.
Better a beautiful woman than a skeletal knight.
Even if she was a shadow-wielding dark mage and vampire.
'That's even scarier!'
Se-ah screamed inwardly, quickening her pace to hail a waiting taxi nearby.
She'd promised to meet her friend at a quiet cafe in Hongdae.
As her taxi pulled away, a man blended in the crowd whispered into his earpiece.
"Target's on the move. Vehicle: Seoul Alpha 2234. Team 2, tail quietly."
Crow's shadows sprang into action.
In Hongdae's quiet cafe, Se-ah sat by the window, fidgeting as she waited for Yu-ri.
Her entrance drew every eye in the place.
She worried rumors of Necropolis had spread, but people just glanced at the pretty girl.
"Se-ah!"
Looking up at the familiar voice, her friend Kim Yu-ri—striking features like fine glassware—rushed over.
Yu-ri hugged her tight without warning.
"Girl! You really okay?"
Relief and worry mixed on Yu-ri's face.
She glanced around and lowered her voice.
"Saw the news. Your apartment... that mess. And the guy on KBC... that was Jung-woo, right?"
Yu-ri asked carefully.
She'd recognize her bestie's little brother anywhere.
Hard to believe the whiny jobless kid getting nagged days ago was now the epicenter of apocalypse.
Se-ah nodded at last.
No point or strength left to hide.
"Yeah... it's my brother."
"Oh my god...!"
Yu-ri gripped Se-ah's hand, speechless.
No curses or blame—just pure concern for her friend.
"What the hell happened? You okay? He didn't hurt you or anything?"
"He's my brother—why would he hurt me? He's too good to me. That's the problem."
Se-ah gave a wry smile and cautiously recounted the past few days.
Yu-ri listened silently amid shock and confusion.
After a long pause, Yu-ri spoke with resolve.
"That must've been rough. Bottling it up... Times like this, you need good food to recharge."
"Hey, Sang-jin ajusshi's shop is nearby—wanna swing by?"
Kim Sang-jin.
Se-ah's rock during her toughest job-hunting days dreaming of web design.
A kind man who knew their plight and fathered them quietly.
"...Should we? Feels sudden."
"Yeah! Ten-minute walk. Let's at least say hi. He'll love it."
Se-ah agreed.
Perfect timing.
In this nightmare reality, she craved a good memory.
'Sang-jin Interiors'
A modest shop in an old alley.
Sign paint chipped, but inside spotless as ever.
Ding-a-ling.
As Se-ah and Yu-ri entered, Kim Sang-jin looked up from blueprints at the counter, beaming.
"Well, if it isn't our Se-ah! And Yu-ri too!"
"Ajusshi! How've you been?"
The reunion brimmed with joy.
They sat at a small table inside, sipping coffee and catching up.
Sang-jin knew.
He'd seen Necropolis on the news, Lee Jung-woo's name at its core.
Couldn't ask outright—just worried with pitying eyes.
His warmth let Se-ah forget the horror, if only briefly.
Chat stretched over thirty minutes.
Se-ah felt her shadow grow chillier than the surroundings.
A signal from the being within.
Then, a cold, sharp warning echoed in her mind.
Se-ah froze.
Sang-jin noticed her expression.
"Se-ah, you okay? You're pale."
"N-No, ajusshi. I'm fine."
Forcing a smile, Helena's report continued.
"Dispose" made Se-ah panic.
'What do I do?!'
She screamed internally.
Then it hit her.
They might not be after her—but the shop, or Sang-jin.
Her presence endangered this kind benefactor.
She shot to her feet.
"Ajusshi, we gotta go. Sudden emergency."
"Already? I can refill your coffee."
"No, next time. Sorry! Yu-ri, catch you later!"
She feared fallout for Sang-jin.
Outside, she pleaded desperately to her shadow.
'Please handle it quietly.'
A faint, amused reply echoed in her mind.
As Se-ah and Yu-ri's taxi left the alley, in the car across the darkened street.
A man reported into his earpiece.
"Target fled in taxi with friend. Benefactor male left alone in shop. Continuing surveillance."
Before he finished, black mist seeped through the open window.
He coughed, chasing it—but consciousness plunged into darkness.
The two in the alley met the same fate.
Their shadows stretched unnaturally long, then writhed like living tentacles, coiling around ankles and dragging them into the void.
No screams.
Helena shadowed the taxi like a wraith, eyeing the faint soul fragments wriggling at her fingertips.
Tiny memory shards extracted from the three.
Her red lips curved elegantly.
'Crow... Pathetic worms daring to trespass the divine garden.'
She reported to her master at once.
All expression vanished from Lee Jung-woo's face.
The living room temperature plummeted.
Not the AC.
The empire's mana-powered appliances blew colder air.
The variety show's laughter echoed hollowly.
Belial instinctively stepped back.
His liege's wrath.
A calamity even the 2nd Legion Commander struggled against.
Last seen when he'd personally ripped out a rebel archduke's head in Arkeia, spine and all, to adorn the throne.
"...What did you just say, Helena?"
His voice via soul network was absolute zero—no anger, just frigid void.
Jung-woo's brow furrowed.
He spoke to Belial beside him, laced with contempt.
"Belial, hear that? Some bug called Crow was sniffing around my sister."
Belial bowed instantly, sensing the killing intent.
"Crow."
Jung-woo murmured the name.
He didn't know who or what organization.
No need.
'...Touch my sister?'
His sole blood kin, anchoring his last humanity—an absolute sanctuary no one could profane.
Sure, the world's chaos was his doing; maybe just a background check.
But if they were awakeners, she could've been at risk.
Their mere approach fouled his mood.
"Belial."
"Yes, my liege."
"Unbelievable..."
"My liege, shall I send Helena to raze their nest—"
"No."
He cut Belial off.
Pure killing lust blazed in his eyes for the first time in ages.
"Trash like this, the master handles personally. Gotta make those bugs feel their pathetic weakness—and the gravity of their folly—down to their bones."
Jung-woo donned his coat, heading to the balcony.
Turning, he flashed a smile more demonic than any devil.
"Shall we go pluck every last feather from this crow?"